Pulitzer Center Update April 17, 2026
International Journalism Festival: Follow Along From Afar
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As champions of independent journalism, the Pulitzer Center values every opportunity to provide training and resources to journalists globally. This week, we joined journalists and news partners in Perugia, Italy—an ancient hilltop city that hosts the International Journalism Festival, Europe’s largest annual media event—as architects of the collaborations that strengthen a fair, free, and independent press. Even if you can’t make it to Perugia, we invite you to watch the live streams and learn from the panels with us!
The Pulitzer Center kicked off our participation in the festival with a panel on transnational collaborations, featuring the Center’s executive editor, Marina Walker Guevara.
Over the past decade, transnational collaborations have reshaped investigative journalism, exposing international scandals, providing protections to reporters, and reaching millions of readers globally. During this time of rapid development, significant challenges emerge. Uneven resource distribution between newsrooms, a focus on national audiences, dependency on large-scale leaks, high public expectations, and funding sustainability all raise urgent questions about what these collaborations should look like, and whether they can last. The conversation opened toward a shared framework for journalists built on principles of transparency, equity, and long-term viability.
The panel was followed by a conversation with Pulitzer Center Director of Editorial Programs Rozina Breen on “Reinventing Membership Media in the Age of AI-Slop.” The conversation highlighted how high-trust, mission-driven journalism is experiencing a quiet resurgence in the age of digital noise. Exploring models across multiple media startups, participants shared how to shift from a “reach-at-all-costs” model to a sustainable relationship with audiences through human voice and curation—prioritizing editorial integrity and community needs.
In partnership with Revista LATE, the Center’s ocean editor, Jessica Aldred, connected journalists, editors, and collaborators to more deeply discuss a vision for cross-border investigative and environmental reporting. The event offered possibilities for new alliances, as well as reflections on sustaining ambitious, collaborative journalism in a global context.
The Pulitzer Center will close participation in this year’s festival with an interactive workshop on collaboration between newsrooms and media support organizations. Recognizing a crisis of shrinking budgets, funding cuts, and an increasingly hostile environment to journalists worldwide, the workshop will explore collaboration models that better serve journalists and their audiences alike.
Panel discussion live streams from the festival are available on demand. You can watch the panels with our editors and partners here and here.
None of these conversations happen in isolation—and neither does the journalism that inspires them. The panels, workshops, and gatherings that made up our time in Perugia are the result of years of trust-building with grantees, editorial partners, and colleagues who share the Pulitzer Center’s commitment to rigorous, collaborative reporting.
From transnational investigative frameworks to cross-border alliances, each conversation this week reflected a shared conviction: that the most resilient journalism is built together. Thank you to our grantees and partners who made these conversations meaningful, and make such collaborations possible.
Buon fine settimana a tutti! (Have a great weekend, everyone!)
Cate Riccio
Development Assistant
This message appeared in the April 17, 2026, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.
